Tradition

"All the O'Flaherties are from Galway."  Ultimately, this is true.  From the era of the Ua Briuin Seola in the sixth century (and before) our ancestors had occupied the areas around Loch Corrib (also known as Loch Orbsen), until the 13th century when the Saxons and Normans built the walled town of Galway on the banks of the river Galimh.

Then the convulsions of the seventeenth century shattered "the country of the O'Fflahertyes" who were thrust landless on the world.  Yet, the ultimate homeland remained Iar Connacht.  In the mid-nineteenth century several of the O'Flaherty family remained in the Galway area, their tradition proudly represented by Martin and Anthony O'Flaherty, and too, by the father of Liam and Tom O'Flaherty, the Aran Islander, Michael O'Flaherty.

Sadlier, we'll speak of Laertes later.

My task, as I have chosen to believe it, will be to find out the path, genealogically and sociologically, of my ancestors from Iar Connact to Dublin.  Where did the Rathfarnham sept originate?  What sept of the Iar Connactians spawned them?

The fabulous possibilities of Dublin intrigue me.  Undocumented, unauthorized, unknown, we guess about the past.  There was a point in James Hardiman's career when he must have said, "I didn't know that."  Now, I have Rathfarnham and Dublin.  I didn't know that.  Now I have the possibility of finding "Pat Flaherty's" father, who survived the United Irishman and French Invasion of the 1790's, the Act of Union, and Emmet's rebellion of 1803.

Here, too, is the Industrial Revolution and the link to the paper manufacturing that the family lore discloses.

Check Rathfarnham here: http://www.southdublinhistory.ie/Rathfarnham/rathfarnham_history.htm



The marriage information I have puts "Pat Flaherty" in Rathfarnham along with an Andrew Flagherty, who seems to be a brother.  Why were they in Rathfarnham?  Who started the community.  What was their relationship to the other O'Flaherty families that had migrated to the Dublin area and show up in the church records of all these parishes for hundreds of years, indeed they still live there.

This post is dedicated to Queen Maeve.

Still remembering

On this Memorial Day Americans remember their servicemen.  My records show that in 1792 an O'Flaherty was granted a pension for his service in the Revolutionary War.  In December, 1941, a young seaman named Francis Flaherty earned the following entry in the annals of American History

"For conspicuous devotion to duty and extraordinary courage and complete disregard of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, by Japanese Forces on 7 December 1941. When it was seen that the U.S.S. Oklahoma was going to capsize and the order was given to abandon ship, Ensign Flaherty remained in a turret, holding a flashlight so the remainder of the turret crew could see to escape, thereby sacrificing his own life."Medal of Honor citation of Ensign Francis C. Flaherty, USNR

The escort ship USS Flaherty (DE-135), 1943-1966, was named in honor of Ensign Flaherty. (Navy website).

This post is dedicated to the mother of Francis C. Flaherty.

Remembering

My studies of the history of the O'Flaherty clan have taught me much about the life of our ancestors.  Kicked out of Galway in 1238, and almost out of Ireland, the O'Flaherties returned to Iar Connaught and turned some of the most desolate territories in Western Europe into an into a last bastion of Gaelic culture.

There are two mottoes that come down through history that pertain to the O'Flaherties:  fortuna favet fortibus, and fortuna faveat. 

Fortuna faveat has been translated to mean, fortune favored.  This indicates the natural assumption that due to the guidance of providence, the O'Flaherties have either been lucky, or been favored by God.

Fortuna favet fortibus, has sometimes been translated into "fortune favors the bold."  This is a mistranslation.  A closer understanding comes with the phrase, fortune favors the strong.  However, this Darwinian translation sometimes is interpreted to mean, power wins.  This would indicate a motto akin to the strategy of the United States military.  Acquire overwhelming force, and destroy the enemy.

I hope my personal translation of fortibus is somewhat more nuanced.  Because fortune doesn't always favor the strong. 

"Fortune favors fortitude" is my modern adaptation for the ancient phrase.  Strength becomes many ideas including endurance, integrity, courage and faith.  Power becomes something larger than physical force, something deeper and lasting.

To all this we must add the question, what is fortune?

Well, that's a much larger question than this little post should allow.  I can only tell you this, I've been trying to post a picture of a window from St. Mark's Church in Brooklyn.  The stain-glass window was donated by the O'Flaherties of Brooklyn in the early twentieth century.  It reads, "Peace on Earth, Good will toward men; Pray for Julia and Patrick O'Flaherty."

For some reason, my Blog's server keeps rejecting additional photos.  Indicating maybe I've been to generous with the size of my photos.  I shall endure, I shall figure this out.  I will post the window, or email it upon request.

Fortibus.

This post dedicated to Mrs. Andrew O'Flaherty.